Ok, I’ve been putting off this for too long. It’s way, way too long since my last proper fast. Not to mention recently my diet and lifestyle have taken a hit. Once a year I come back home to Finland to meet my friends and family. And you know friends. Most of them are not compatible with healthy lifestyle.
So I’ve decided to do a 7-day water fast, starting right now.
To give you an idea of what it feels like to go through this I’m going to share my experiences here.
If you have any questions about fasting or detoxing please post them as comments and I’ll do my best to answer them.
So this is going to be a simple 7-day water fast. No supplements, colon cleanse powders, enemas or anything. Just pure, simple water.
As a word of warning, if you have little or no experience on fasting, please don’t try this at home. Water fast is way too rough for beginners. In Clear for Life I share many different fasts and detox diets that are suitable for beginners, along with how to prepare for a fast. Anyway simple 3-day apple fast, any other mono-food fast or even a raw food cleanse (where you eat nothing but raw fruits and vegetables) are all good for beginners.
As a preparation I ate predominantly raw diet the whole last week. Again catching up with friends messed that up a bit. Anyway, screw that, I’m going to do this now.
Coffee is one of my last bad habits and I drink way too much of it (2 to 3 cups a day). Unfortunately I continued that the whole week. So to soften the blow I’m going to drink a bit of coffee during the first 2 to 3 days of this fast. Not much, about 1/2 a cup a day. I know caffeine withdrawal gives me a blinding headache and that’s why I want to soften it a bit. It’s not ideal but life rarely is.
Kinda like the joke my friend’s boss made of his own wife. "I know she’s not the best possible, but she’s the best of the possible."
Nasty. I know, but we’ll go with the same principle here.
I’ve noticed that especially beginners tend to be very idealistic about detoxing and fasting. They are often afraid that if they slip a bit or don’t stick with it 100% that it’s going to be of no use.
Luckily that’s not true.
Detoxing is not like an on/off switch. It’s more like a dial. Your body detoxes 24/7. It has to because your own cellular metabolism produces toxic waste the body has to eliminate.
The only thing that changes is detox speed. The more stress you put on the body (be it digestive, mental, physical or any other form of stress) the less it has time and resources for detoxing. And if your diet is not that healthy toxins often accumulate faster than the body can throw them out.
So the point of a detox is to maximize the detox speed by reducing the intake or toxins and stressing the body as little as possible.
So my taking a bit of coffee (or any other slip) is just going to reduce the detox speed a bit. But that’s not a big deal because I’m still eliminating far more toxins than I’m putting in.
That pretty much does it for the intro. I’ll post more once the fast really kicks in.
Any questions you have, just post them as comments and I’ll answer them.
August 11th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Hi Seppo,
I have a question about detoxing and diet since I am interested in your Clear for Life book. One hesitation I have in purchasing it is the food factor — does one have to radically change his diet (ex: eat only raw foods, no meat, no dairy, etc) to restore harmony in the body and reach clear skin? I have to be honest - I HATE vegetables. there are only a few I can tolerate. If the food part of the equation in creating a more harmonious lifestyle involves me having to gag down yucky veggies and give up foods I enjoy, I’m not sure it’s right for me. If adopting an extreme diet - like a permanent raw diet - is part of the solution in your book, I’m hesitant to purchase it because it seems like it would be a waste of money for me in particular since radically changing my diet isn’t something I want to do, especially if it means eating all the foods i don’t like. Can you give me some indication of certain restrictions for changing your diet to promote clear skin?
August 11th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Alli, let me be honest with you.
Yes, diet is a big part of the equation. For many people it’s just not possible to get clear and eat large quantities of processed foods.
Raw foods are a big part of the diet I recommend. But it doesn’t mean you have to live on vegetables. For example I don’t eat that many vegetables. I eat mostly fruits. And when I do eat vegetables, it’s mostly greens in green smoothies. I do chop a big salad couple of times a week, but I could easily do without it also.
The main thing about diet is to eat whole foods in their natural state. Food that is unaltered. So potatoes, beans, rice and such are all ok foods.
Cut out the processed crap.
In other words, back to basics.
Most people find eating this way surprisingly easy and simple. You get to eat good foods and feel satisfied.
If you think you can live with that and that Clear for Life is a good choice for you, check it out here:
http://www.clear-for-life.com
August 11th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Hi Seppo’
I have fasted many times over the last 30 years -i used to read a lot of books on natural hygene (e.g. Shelton) 2 months ago i completed a 10 day fast and felt like i should have gone longer.The main secrets i have learned -1) a true fast is water only and begins only after 3 days (so 1 day fasts are not really fasts) and 2) it is important to employ the enema in order to remove the waste (i use a \n organic coffee enema) this will also clear your fuzziness in the head and make you feel great. Fasting and eating for health (joel fuhrman m.d.) is a good recent book on the subject.
cheers kim
August 12th, 2008 at 4:27 am
Hi seppo. Just wanted to let you know how much your book has helped me. I still can’t belive it’s only 39 dollars (i used to spend way more money on useless pills) and you also already answered LOTS of my questions, you answer my emails SUPER fast, thanks
.
With your book i got completelly clear! This is the first time my skin looks healthy.
I recently went on vacation to Mexico and got salmonella. The loose stool made my skin look even better (even though i felt like i was going to die because of the virus) but i lost SOOO much weight so i started eatting lots of fats (ice cream, nuts, peanut butter, pizza, mexican food, vegan protein shakes) jsut to gain my weight back. This morning i saw i had 3 pimples and it really stresses me out because it felt so good to be completelly clear for the first time in my life. I started eatting good again but i guess it’s just frustrating.
I just wanted to ask if i should do a fast and why should anyone do a fast? I’m scared of loosing anymore weight… Thanks for everything again!
Chris
August 12th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Hey Seppo, bought your book and decided to do the program that you laid out.. seems logical. anyways i started making changes in my diet and sleep, and then decided to do a water fast, and as i did the water fast the first few days my skin broke out like never before, and as soon as i stopped the water fast (4 days) it has begun to heal and no new pustules.. is this normal?
Thanks.
August 12th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Kim, thanks for a great comment. I haven’t read Dr. Fuhrman’s book, but I’ve read lots of his article. He really knows what he’s talking about.
I don’t know about enemas. I tend to go by the natural hygienists wisdom that let the body do what it feels the best. So I try to interfere as little as possible.
My bowel habits are very good since I eat so much fruits and vegetable fiber. Even during fast I had a bowel movement every days (except for the second).
August 12th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Chris, good to hear of your progress. Getting clear is really simple once you get to the bottom of it.
No wonder you broke out after eating all that. There’s a bunch of highly allergenic foods that will increase inflammation and probably lead to acne.
Also the excess fat might have caused temporary insulin resistance.
Anyway, might I suggest not to worry about it. Worrying just makes your skin worse.
Remember that you are just one meal away from the clear skin lifestyle. Let the past be past and bounce back.
You already managed to clear your skin once. There’s nothing stopping you doing it again. And this time it’s going to happen faster.
After you’ve been following Clear for Life for a while you start to develop ‘resistance’ to acne. Meaning your skin doesn’t explode immediate after eating junk foods. But it’s going to take a bit of time.
You don’t have to fast. It just accelerates the healing process. It’s also a bit of a housecleaning and maintenance time for your body.
I highly recommend you take some time to fast or detox occasionally. It doesn’t have to be water fast. Simple apple fast or any other detox diet described in Clear for Life will do just fine.
It’s just to give your body a bit of a break from the hard work it does everyday.
August 12th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Allan, thanks for getting Clear for Life. I really appreciate your trust.
Yes, that’s perfectly normal.
During a fast the body dumps toxins, waste material and other nasty stuff into the bloodstream. These are inflammatory substances, so it’s expected that your skin breaks out.
The body also eliminates toxins through the skin. And this could also aggravate your acne.
It’s called ‘healing crisis’.
Anyway, all this is temporary and will pass. Once those toxins are out you are much better off.
Please check the chapter ‘how healing happens’ in Clear for Life. It explains what happens during the process and guides you through it.
If you don’t understand the healing process you can easily mistake the signs of healing as negative.
August 14th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Hi Seppo…
I am completely baffled. I have eaten no processed foods, just fresh fruits, veggies, raw nuts, and basic staples like rice. However, every morning I wake up to find more and more acne. It doesn’t make any sense. I am not on any medications or things. Is there hope? What is my problem?
Thanks…hope you can help.
August 15th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Miranda, I’m sure your question is on other people’s mind also. So I just wrote a post to answer it. Read it here:
“Help, I’m eating a healthy diet and still have acne”